Notes on A Passage to India Themes

A Passage to India Topic Tracking: Women

Women 1: Mrs. Moore impresses Aziz by removing her shoes before she enters the Mosque. This is a sign of respect that he does not expect from British women in his country.

Chapter 7

Women 2: Fielding contends that English women can never be friends with Indian men. Disaster happens whenever the two meet.

Chapter 11

Women 3: Aziz shows Fielding a picture of his wife: an act that is forbidden unless it is between brothers due to the tradition of purdah, the separation and veiling of women. Fielding asks if people in the world were to treat each other as equally as brothers, if there would be no more need for purdah.

Chapter 13

Women 4: Aziz's friends now warn him that it is not advisable for him to mix with British women. They predict something bad will happen due to his interaction with these ladies.

Chapter 20

Women 5: At the club, the men talk of protecting the women and children. This incites in them a blinding national pride.

Chapter 34

Women 6: Aziz begins to write poetry about Oriental womanhood. He calls for the end of purdah, which he believes is an essential step to forming Indian statehood.